What's Happening in War of the Spark? | Magic Arcanum

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Nicol Bolas is waging an all out war on Ravnica, but for what purpose? Who among the planeswalkers stand against him, and how can they hope to defeat the immensely powerful Elder Dragon once he puts his final plans into motion?
Find out as we tell the story behind what's happening in War of the Spark, Magic: The Gathering's most ambitious event in over 25 years!

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Alright! Glad you are all enjoying the video. I do see a lot of the same comments coming up though so I want to answer some of these frequently asked questions: 1. On Domri (ok not a question but still) - in the video I say he went to attack Bolas, which is not entirely accurate. He technically said he wanted to join the Elder Dragon and was on his way to pledge loyalty when the Eternal took him out. For the sake of my own brain, I refuse to accept this as being what happened. It goes against Domri's character entirely. The whole point of him and the Gruul is that they don't really follow anyone. And even if they support total chaos, there is no way they are down with totally murdering every other living soul on Ravnica. Two pages before, Domri and the Gruul were fighting off Eternals and trying to save other citizens. So yeah. I'm really not happy with this part of the book and in my mind, Domri went out swinging, rather than trying to switch to the team that wouldn't even have him. 2. How did Karn, Samut, Dack, and Ob Nixilis get through the bridge? I mentioned the bridge only works on inorganic material, and everyone save Karn should have been obliterated when they entered the portal, right? Well it turns out, a planeswalker spark does offer protection here the same way it does in the Blind Eternities. However, it still isn't perfect. Dack does get minor injuries, but Samut runs through so fast she seems unharmed, and Ob Nixilis just kinda tanks the damage while laughing at how weak Dack is. Karn is of course unaffected. This is another part of the book that could have been avoided entirely by having the Immortal Sun shut down first - then just let this group planeswalk straight to Amonkhet. (Though I guess Ob would have no incentive to do so. Oh well.) 3. What about Sorin and Nahiri? The book barely mentions them. It does confirm they are present, and fighting at first, but both show up later at Jace's meeting and stand on opposite sides of the room to listen. It does not tell us who won, or if the fight resumed later. It also does not tell us how Sorin got out of the wall. This was another missed opportunity of the book. 4. What about (anyone else)? If I didn't mention them in this video, it's because they did nothing of note in the book, or don't have a card to discuss (looking at you, Rat.) Maybe some of these characters get more detail in the missing chapters or prequel book coming in November but until then, it's not worth hearing about their stories because they are trivial. 5. What about the Triumph cycle? Chandra's shows her killing or capturing Dovin Baan but this does not happen in the book. With such a wild discrepancy, I am not sure which version is "true" per the lore. I guess the book wins out over card art but I could see a case being made for it going the other way. For anything else, I'll try and post thoughts on Twitter as they come to me. Thank you so much for watching this video and I'm really proud of this community. Together we've reached over 2 million views on videos just about stories, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Now let's get 3 million!

[@slayerofmankind]

I would give u a b- on ur predictions

[@TheSwampian]

Only gonna mention this because you covered other significant relationships in the end, but you either missed or skipped Jace and Vraska (I've read the book myself, so I know the outcome.)

[@skullstorm8574]

So since Gideon gifted his power to Liliana, does that mean we should see a WB Liliana in the future?

[@slayerofmankind]

@@skullstorm8574 no I think she will become esper for she and jace will run off and maybe have a relationship but i think veraska will probably be part of the love triangle and who knows jace might have 2 instead of just one lover

[@slayerofmankind]

@@skullstorm8574 but I could be right maybe she does become a healer again and she then can bring dead to life but also not in zombie form but i feel she will move onto skeletons next instead of zombies

[@ShadoryKaine]

u know why Niv Mizzet couldn't fight at first and had to go rest for awhile? He had summoning sickness.

[@kionashi]

ba dum tssss

[@ich3730]

in the ravnica books he did the exact same thing. Gets beaten up by nephilim and then fcks off because he is "bored and needs to rest"

[@paulofernandesroberto9336]

@@ich3730 I remember that! But it wasn't the nephilim, were they? I can't remember who or what he fought, but when I was about to imagine Niv-Mizzet in action... He goes away. Pretty awesome books though

[@natoni5146]

@@ich3730 Not gonna lie those were some stupid choices. Still mad his spark never ignited though. He literally died, came back, and stabbed the strongest being in the universe. Like whats a dragon gotta do?

[@stratavosstuff7575]

@@natoni5146 while Niv doesn't have black in him, he would probably try to take over a lot of planes because Draconic Vanity. It's best he doesn't become a planeswalker (until the next major big baddie fight, like if the eldrazi are re-unleashed).

[@thedoomslayer8900]

"You thought it was Chandra, but it was ME! LAZAV!"

[@shmerelize]

That was very twisty!

[@dominiciancabatit6012]

Ora ora ora ora ora ora!!!

[@TsujiCross]

WRYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

[@michaelcabangbang]

KONO LAZAV DA!

[@dquirk8184]

Everyone: who’s Lazard?

[@abrahamhang7880]

"I can't be a hero this time, Liliana. But you can." -Gideon to Liliana

[@nephtys369]

Oh man that hurt to read

[@TSD2003]

Gets hunted down after anyway

[@haroldarquiza1839]

Literally the exact MTG video I've been waiting for since that trailer.

[@danielputzer7701]

Harold Arquiza same here man! Been checking on the channel every couple of days to make sure I didn’t miss it!

[@BunnyTheOverlord]

Same I stopped playing back in dinosaur land and hadn't kept up with the story. Curiosity sated I leave again and wait for the next one.

[@kyuzo26]

quick question i've listened until 7:00 min in. does he talk about the ending ?

[@kionashi]

@@kyuzo26 yeah

[@Hubbelluff]

Fair warning. You don't need to read the book. The book ist utter garbage and the flavor text on the cards is doing a better job in explaining the story

[@shadowedpast]

Lazav throwing ninja stars? Return to Kamigawa confirmed!!!!!

[@johnnyscifi]

shadowedpast Cmndr ninjitsu confirms return to kami...;)

[@derekwalter4238]

I can dig it

[@derekwalter4238]

@@johnnyscifi or it just confirms they wanna support an old archetype, perhaps?

[@Jahsart23]

@@derekwalter4238 They did return ninjitstu for Yuriko; I could see ninjas existing outside of kamigawa. No need to bring back Bushido though

[@duuet5614]

@@Jahsart23 yeah no reason to bring back the mechanics I dont know why people think that, but the visual theme of the plane is so good

[@GadwickTheWizened]

An indestructible Liliana with Chain Veil planeswalking around. What a great time to be alive.

[@ledendron5590]

...or dead...

[@SirMcAwesome]

@@ledendron5590 too soon

[@kylesavage4525]

The indestructible aura thingy might be temporary though. But even if it isn't i'm totally fine with one of my favourite pws being kinda op.

[@mairan1]

@@kylesavage4525 Not just the indestructible aura (if permanent), she still got the Chain vail and she also took Bolas's Spirit-Gem. But same here, not a problem if she is story line OP. I just love her as a character. She is not just plain good or bad.

[@julianlastname5730]

Price of betrayal wouldn’t have killed Lilliana anyway, she starts with six loyalty...

[@josh___something]

She probably -4 ed

[@henkotron4437]

Bruh

[@truehiddenb]

Lmfao

[@stuff2503]

ikr

[@miklklosin_]

Again, so true (I say again because another comment)

[@Holacalaca]

Can we hear it for a Phyrexia episode???? Just me? Okay.... I still want it though.

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) It's on my list!

[@purpleboye_]

Ha̟͖͒̓ị͍̰͒̎̏ĺ̨̧̫͕̆́̑ ̯̻̐͝Y̟͑à̢̪̲͓̓̄͛w̼̓g͙͘mǒ͎͕̍th̯̪͛̏

[@addicted2SODA1]

I want it tooooo!

[@haeilsey]

Old phyrexia

[@lanceeastman3122]

as a new player i'd appreciate this a lot, some insight on old stories would be awesome.

[@Ubermunki3]

"The beacons are lit, Ravnica calls for aid!"

[@VoidArchon]

Ral: "Now all of the Multiverse knows you're here" Bolas: *smiles* "Good"

[@joshuagleason5151]

And Rohan will answer!!

[@JustPhoenyx]

No. "And the Planeswalkers will answer."

[@treizeepyon5799]

im sending thoughts and prayers to Ravnica

[@taronjaruchaiyakul2447]

Sooooooo Vraska is sent for Dovin, who is blind. Vraska, a person’s whose power is based off of a person seeing them, is being sent to kill a blind person. Slightly illogical but I suppose it can’t be THAT hard for a pirate to kill a blind engineer.

[@keithfilibeck2390]

This is not how her gaze works, she just has to gaze upon you, you don't have to see it

[@sephirothsadvent]

@@keithfilibeck2390 Yup. Not really the greek version of gorgons anymore. Its just a magic they throw at you from their eyes.

[@busterbros]

In the book, Ral averts his eyes to avoid her powers

[@RiseInAfterlife]

Well yeah, the book was absolute garbage. Horrible writing and I highly doubt the author had any idea about MtG past reading some wiki. Got all MtG books but I won't buy the WotS one. Read through leaked content and had the feeling some 4th grader wrote it. What I saw was so atrocious (Ugin and Bolas talking like edgy teens for example) that I am gonna dismiss anything written in there as fanfic.

[@bryanskscion2229]

Vraska Is also a trained assassin with a lot of experience with battle and blades, holding her own against elder vampire conquistadors. She's also tracked other Planeswalkers before, spying on Jace and others across the plains.

[@IHazMagics]

wait what? missing chapters released via email? Are you telling me that there's goddamn Book DLC?

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) YUP.

[@Pfromm007]

@@tcgplayercom I quit.

[@fatbabyjake]

Is this DLC free? If not Wizards messed up hugely.

[@tcgplayercom]

@@fatbabyjake It is free.

[@jaredtiller884]

TCGplayer is there anywhere to sign up for the email list yet? I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the direction the book went as the summation of a decade of lore and I need more backstory if available to try to rectify the books shortcomings

[@yaboiskittlez7943]

So in short: Magic the Gathering Infinity War

[@BattlesageAsmodéus]

Bruh you have no idea how right you are.

[@nik700]

11:47 Damn paladins and their Charisma-based spellcasting!

[@steelcladCompliant]

If Liliana doesnt kill Kaya with extreme violence I will riot And when I do I will pick the +1/+1 counter. Im a patient man

[@Niterayde]

Ikr

[@Apollo-vh3tb]

After she dispatches Kaya, the real battle will begin when Garruk attacks....

[@bobateacafe5792]

Thats not very Gruul, GRUUL SMASH GRUUL NO PATIENT

[@TheOobo]

I get the sense that this set (aside from the Niv-Mizzet plot point) did an excellent job of telling a huge story, while the book was lacklustre at best. The cards showed enough snapshots to put everything together in a satisfying way, while the book had more details but was more poorly done.

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) I would largely agree with this.

[@Geallach83]

Lackluster is generous in describing the pile of garbo they are calling a "novel".

[@Poxet]

That book had anything but details.

[@TonyProvoskidas]

I disagree with this they missed so many plot points that they have to release the extra chapters. I bet that they would do this till they read the story themselves and realised it was missing so many parts. Wizzards are good with card games but they suck at lore building.

[@Battleguild]

You could probably take all the cards from the set, approximate a chronological order to them, and write the story off that alone with a bit of filler to close the gaps. You'd still have a better novel than what we got.

[@mugongaiaphage7764]

I love this video, what a great way to save 30 dollars and hear Nichol Bolas react to your puns

[@bagelenforcer3145]

I watched Tolarian community college's video about the WoTS book, so I'm glad you're going over the story! Also I didn't know that there were new chapters coming out later on, that's pretty cool

[@simonds3182]

New chapters coming out is pretty uncool, sounds like Wizards asked people to spend money on an unfinished book (or at least a book they knew had significant gaps that needed to be filled in).

[@Geallach83]

@@simonds3182 As someone who bought the book, releasing chapters online would've been fine if the book wasn't swamp ass garbage.

[@Charsiupao]

The new chapters are, sadly, also written by the same author. At least the one which is currently online is. Reading the first half of it kind of reinforces the view that the book probably isn't worth it.

[@QueenCookiesama]

@@Charsiupao I was disappointed that the author would be doing the online chapters because the book that he wrote is shit. I was hoping the online chapters would do it justice

[@TB317]

Nice summation! One point of clarification though, Domri was actually trying to betray everyone and JOIN Nicol Bolas in destroying Ravnica, when he was harvested by the Eternals for his spark under the Elder Spell

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Yes, you are totally right and I kind of played it up as a joke but the whole thing happened over the course of like, four paragraphs, so in the end I figure it doesn't really matter what is intentions were - dead is dead!

[@kingguy3]

He was also australian in the audio book lel

[@JazzyBassy]

@@kingguy3 He has that accent in MTG Arena too, pretty funny to listen to tbh.

[@dimitriemirea6084]

"YOU IDIOTS YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FAKE HIS DEATH GODDAMNIT"

[@lunispunis]

Lazaav pulling a Naruto on Dovin with the Henge no Jutsu and Shuriken

[@Professor_Smoak]

Priceless

[@MrSJPowell]

I mean, he is the master of the guild of ninja, and is a shape changer. If he didn't i'd be disappointed in him.

[@antoniomarino9444]

Faceless man from Game of thrones + ninja moves = Ultimate assasin

[@craiggentile313]

All he needed to do was use talk no jutsu to really be Naruto

[@Lightning_Lance]

26:15 'After Millenium Items to craft victory, Bolas had eternity to contemplate "but what does Pot of Greed do?" '

[@alexgarciafantauzzi5031]

Is it divination? Ancestral vision? Why is it green? Do I pay mana or cost?

[@MrEliakimRAS]

I think it draws you two cards, but I'm not sure. It is too much power for a man to handle.

[@KensanOni]

It won’t happen, but a Wonderland themed world where Lilliana and Kaya fight it out amongst warped creatures that judge their sins and egos would be cool.

[@timbusbee1483]

I will say Heartwarming Redemption is a tear jerker. Best/worst part of WAR

[@Jekpay]

Awesome video. Lost myself in laughter at Niv-Mizzet dying almost twice

[@BretasDoc]

Really cool and all, but the real question we got to ask: *Where's Garruk?*

[@makutran123]

well not every planeswalker is mentioned but in the case of garruk…. he's a hunter of planeswalkers and that probably wouldn't work out soo well for the story if there's someone killing planeswalkers instead of the eternals. Garruk already has two dead planeswalkers on his belt I think there would be a lot more heads to his collection if he was in the war. plus jace would be dead since garruk did warn him not to find him again or else. garruk did have a card for that set in the mythical edition but that got pulled off the net now

[@redundancycheck]

Wotc apparently has plans for him. Idk the details, but wouldn't it be fun if Lili meets him again while running away from Kaya?

[@makutran123]

@@redundancycheck maybe he will appear in the next set on either a different plane or on the same plane Jace left him back in the M15 story

[@altromonte15]

@@makutran123 five sets from now they will make a "Garruk the forgotten" card where he has a long white beard and cobwebs all over his body.

[@SoloWing88]

Garruk = Waluigi confirmed

[@pphyjynx8217]

i'm still sad that Dack Fayden died and never got a standard legal card...

[@haeilsey]

PP Hyjynx he stole it before wotc could print more

[@warwerewolf777]

There's always a chance of a flashback or time travel set

[@omgidkwhatimdoing9626]

the thing is dack sucks ass. his thing is artifact manipulation, but not the good kind. his fucking trump card was making the eternals fucking stick to eachother and fall over. Wotc probably understands that he actually sucks, and instead of printing a card that better fits the character they would rather just let you remember him from the actually good card he has.

[@dippybanjo1914]

From what I Read on rosewater’s blog, they didn’t know of Dack’s inclusion until much later in development of the set.

[@jimharris5320]

I was kinda hoping the dead Dack would turn out to be a Spark Double :(

[@tomhur1]

Farewell my favorite MTG character Gideon. You went out a true hero.

[@troytaylor8225]

Niv Mizzets death sounds like a lost chapter that’ll get released

[@someguyplayin6704]

It has been confirmed

[@kionashi]

@@someguyplayin6704 that's odd, why release a book if you gonna strip out the important details?

[@Tzzrt_Unbrkn]

@@kionashi to sell you the rest of it later dlc style

[@Blocker5475]

@@Tzzrt_Unbrkn they are free so how do you figure??

[@Tzzrt_Unbrkn]

@@Blocker5475 for now, WotC will jump in the DLC train soon enough

[@CoreData]

Lazaav confirmed best character

[@goransekulic3671]

Honestly, he was always the best character. If they really did make him shuriken Dovin, it's beyond stupid and just a modern Hollywood crap Lazav didn't need. I know, I know, Artful Takedown. Still.../facepalm

[@nagotron]

@@goransekulic3671 dovin is a piece of shit, he deserves that type of silly takedown

[@nathanielnizard2163]

He is the boss of the strongest guild anyway :). He doesn't even need a spark to scheme or eventually rekt anyone.

[@goransekulic3671]

The strongest? Hm, doubtful(though I'd like to hear more about this). The coolest? Most likely.

[@doncheer]

@@goransekulic3671 maybe not the strongest, but with all the unending political squabble between Orzhov, Azorius, Boros and Selesnia, the not giving a flying f*ck attitude of Izzet, Rakdos and Simic, the massive inferiority complex of Golgari, the utterly uselessness of Gruul, there are lots of power shifts in Ravnica all the time (hence the old guildpact), but for sure you can say that Dimir is the more consistant in power level and influence since EVERYONE uses their services and EVERYONE gets hardcore spied and sabotaged by them all the time, crisis or not.

[@double2254]

I've been waiting for Magic Arcanum to explain the lore of WotS since the book is really bad Thank you for the story, the set is amazing

[@123silverslash]

Now that War of the Spark has come to pass, I’m looking forward to a Sliver invasion story. Something along the lines of one sliver gaining the ability to planeswalk, and through hivemind shenanigans, the slivers as a group are now able to invade other planes.

[@DenverEight]

On what happened with Domri was that he had been aiming to join the dragon in the destruction in the plane. Taken to the extreme, Grull anarchy becomes straight up nihilism.

[@Bluecho4]

Even other Gruul (like Rat's father) were questioning Domri's choice of action, when he started rallying his allies to go join Bolas. It's as much Domri being a fool as it is about him taking his Guild's philosophy to its logical conclusion. Though I am, indeed, not surprised that any Gruul would make a deal with a destroyer if it meant wreaking havoc on Ravnica.

[@starspangledsoccer]

The way the cards depict the story and yet create such fun and interesting gameplay is so impressive.

[@OthEdden]

Garruk is waiting.

[@Dexelele]

finally the arcanum episode about War of the Spark! :D you forgot how the god-eternals died tho :P correct me if I'm wrong but for anyone wondering: Kefnet got incinerated by niv-mizzet Rhonas got killed by Gideon and the Blackblade Oketra was killed by Bolas when she approached him alongside Bontu Bontu harvested all of Bolas' sparks and exploded while Niv-Mizzet rammed the spear into Bolas great video! looking forward to the next episode :3

[@goncaloferreira6429]

thanks for fillinf in the blanks.

[@rafaeldavis2615]

Kefnet was hit by Ral's bolt, I think

[@simonteesdale9752]

The reason that Niv-Mizzet's death wasn't in the story is there was meant to be a card in RNA depicting his death but it got pulled... Whoops.

[@stratavosstuff7575]

it'd be important for them to make one where bolas slays niv, casting him out of the sky going to his citadel, and have the flavour text be "you're in my way"- Nico Bolas

[@hyoroemonmeto6874]

In GRN's Command the Storm, Niv disappear. In Firemind Vessel the city already knows that he died. But how exactly he died is not depicted in card. According to Rosewater "There was a card in Ravnica Allegiance showing he died" I guess that is the card that got pulled from development.

[@TheguitarmasterORZ1]

I wish the book actually talked about Sorin and Nahiri outside of "and they were fighting each other" and then latter "Now they fight together" ...I dunno, I guess Ugin must have grounded them or something.

[@Devilish420]

big daddy Ugin had to punish the kids for getting too out of control, but big daddy Ugin ain't gonna be there for them now that he has to be his brother's keeper in the meditation realm...so one of them is gonna die, and spoiler....it ain't Sorin! XD

[@Charsiupao]

I think we can look forward to a story update on the Magic site for that someday. Given the quality of the book's writing, perhaps it's a blessing that Sorin and Nahiri weren't covered more.

[@TheguitarmasterORZ1]

@@Charsiupao You are absolutely correct on that, this book is such a disgrace, specially if this is the "grand return" to the novels.

[@sephirothsadvent]

sorin: "Whatever your not my REAL dad." Ugin gets very sad and flies away to cry.

[@ich3730]

@@Charsiupao its sad that they let this story go so shit and pseudo-funny... Nahiri has all the reasons to be mad, she still thinks cthulu fcked up her home.

[@hoshi314]

sad thing about this time's story is the death count of planeswalkers is only 3. two of them pretty much died without doing much to make the story more impactful as Gideon goes full tank and directs the damage to himself.

[@ZerooOne01]

When was Niv-Mizzet killed? When was Teysa imprisoned? When did Kaya decide to switch allegiances? When were we introduced to Heketra? When and how did Dovin become guild leader of the Azorius? Finally, we have two major questions: 1) why introduce the reader to a new character that no-one cares about? We all bought it for the characters we already know and love so Teyo is completely forgettable. 29 Who is Rat? Why should I care? How does she know every important member of every guild on Ravnica? Whenever the author needs to find a solution to a problem all he needs to do is use her connections and everything works out. To be honest, I skimmed through every chapter focusing on her, Teyo and Kaya. The one I truly wanted to know more about was, ofc, Lili. She had been hyped up like crazy, and was a focal point. At least, that's what I thought. Sure, she gets to deliver the final blow (so to speak), but that's about it. I didn't expect the book to be anything special - but it was worse than imagined. The scope felt so small - I thought the invasion would last weeks and ravage large portions of Ravnica. You know, like a true apocalypse? Anyway, great video and you made it sound more interesting than it was. So many wasted opportunities..all I can hope is that we get new,great adventures with new planeswalkers. Like Ashiok, Kasmina and Kiyora.

[@adym15]

Boomslang totally get what you’re saying. It seems like the War of the Spark, the culmination of centuries of plotting and scheming by Bolas, lasted for a Ravnican afternoon.

[@ZerooOne01]

@@adym15One problem is how the story was delivered - most of the build-up happened in the onle articles, rather than previous books. And even then certain things (like Niv-Mizzet dying) happened "off-screen". I would rather have seen WoTS been expanded into 2-3 novels, to really give it an epic scope - like it deserves. 380 pages just isn't enuogh to deliver a satisfying story imo. Also, the articles leading up to the book didn't explain anything - they were just random short stories, unlike those from previous sets which were all part of one story.

[@CenJohan]

Still miffed that my boy Garruk didn't get to show up and start hacking away at all the planeswalkers he cold find.

[@ajh22895]

Yeah, I just thought he'd enter like it was the Royal Rumble and take out mooks everywhere.

[@sephirothsadvent]

I doubt we will ever get another Garruk unfortunately. He got put in the oubliette.

[@ikrena4701]

@@sephirothsadvent apparently Garruk is going to be in an upcoming story, according to one of the making magic articles for WAR

[@VoidArchon]

Bolas can't harvest sparks if Garruk snuffs them out first ;)

[@maxbuy9152]

This honestly is an incredible story. Really wish Wizards of the Coast would make movies for all these stories and maybe even their own MTG universe kind of like what Marvel did. I would definitely go watch them and buy the DVD’s.

[@dzyer8359]

8:04 all the proof we’ve ever needed to prove ral is just some sassy smart middleschooler

[@Mirro18]

Thanks now I have him and his boyfriend pulling the "u gay" "no u" game that two of my friends (gay couple) are playing in my head the whole time

[@syntaxerror2409]

The fear that the people on Ravnica felt when the god eternals enter got me the chills

[@SovereignJarodKwan]

i think the one major thing you left out was that Ugin stripped Nicol Bolas of his name so that noone can summon him ever again

[@adhibabu2304]

The sand reference is sooooooooo godly

[@Tree-gh7lb]

Truly my favourite moment today was seeing another video released by my favourite lore boi😀

[@h0lyhandgrenade]

This is 1000x better than reading the book.

[@wayneigoe6722]

To be fair, I'd imagine being reborn as a 5 color dragon is probably a really tiring thing. Niv-Mizzet is would have to be a bit tired from all that.

[@joshuahamer2313]

Huge fan Ryan. Really enjoy how you keep the lore relatable but true to the store. Keep up the good work.

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Awwww, thanks!

[@captainchaos5922]

I think either we go to that new plane mentioned from that new planeswalker, rebuild Amonkhet, or have Emrakul erupt from the eldritch moon. It did want to be trapped there, after-all. The last one would be the best imo kuz I’m an Eldrazi lover, but it is the most far-fetched.

[@seasnek7024]

This channel has got to be the best at re-telling magic lore. It’s so interesting and thanks again for the eldrazi video. Really hope they make a comeback.

[@thehermitdruid]

Been waiting for this! So stoked!

[@loganmorris1094]

A half hour video from Ryan? Yes please!

[@DevilishGuts]

I want to see more of Nissa, if she'll keep using blue mana as she did on Amonkhet and if she really have a connection to Emrakul

[@anthonydelfino6171]

If we're still following the stories of the Gatewatch, I think the next most likely step is dealing with New Phyrexia. We already know Karn refused to join the Gatewatch because he stated that needed to be dealt with first. and as an organization that wants to stop interplanar threats, the Phyrexians are definitely the oldest threat still out there. But.... I do think we're going to get a few more years of set up before that. Possibly involving the revival of Elspeth. Also before all that happens, it would be nice to have another "vacation plane" where things aren't dire, at least for one set. Kind of like how Kaladesh was when we first went there.

[@KRiSK9000]

Ah, Gruulfriends reunited. Seeing their relationship crumble broke my heart appart.

[@ArzOnaute]

they way you tell the story with the cards showing up is very clear and entertaining, thank you for your well done work man !

[@LiamM777]

I agree that they should've showed niv-mizzet dying in the book, but they do talk about it, and the opening of the book is the spirits of Ugin and Niv-Mizzet talking.

[@Hrafnskald]

17:45 Love the double meaning in telling Nicol no one is keeping score :D

[@jesseshexton7602]

Best lore content on KZbin. I do have to say, good for Ral and Tomak. Tomak looks like a perfect boytoy

[@skinnypope]

He's name is Tomik

[@jesseshexton7602]

Same thing when you are a boytoy

[@GigaLordShinyMudkip1]

This is my favorite series on the channel. Was looking forward to this video within the week. Thank you.

[@JV-lq3tx]

The best part of this massively long story? When Liliana saves the day (again) and is supported by Gideon.

[@catfish8716]

I totally thought they would be a couple. And then Gideon bit the dust. F to pay respects

[@MegaBekem]

@@catfish8716 Liliana and Jace are lovers!

[@animal_wilson7391]

I just started playing Magic. I'm really enjoying these lore videos

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Glad to hear it! Welcome to the game, and let me know if you have any questions.

[@gonzalodelapuerta8580]

So Sorin is the main character and Tibalt the villain? Woa what a twist xd

[@brindleyy]

Not even sure how I stumbled upon this, but as someone who is only a few months into Magic for the first time, this was incredibly satisfying. I love the storyline behind the cards, it creates even more depth and interest for me in the game!

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) That's great to hear! Welcome to the game and let us know if you have any questions :-)

[@TxwjKuaSivYis]

LOL! Nice call out to the Shadow Realm!

[@RazorOfArtorias]

Oh man, the Magic Arcanum video is my favorite MTG moment of the week (along with MaRo's Drive to Work Podcast).

[@Godspeace21]

Davriel's got a whole novella about him from Brandon Sanderson! It's pretty deece.

[@MtPleasantHSdrumline]

I know Sanderson has a billion irons in the fire, but I like to imagine wizards hiring him to handle future books. He's proven that he can handle enormous projects (picking up and salvaging wheel of time) and that he loves the mtg universe

[@Thechirimbola]

Thank you so much for this video. I really loved it when they released the cards in a way that told a story. Thank you for joining it together in a beautifully told and succinct way.

[@HumanSektor]

Meanwhile Sorin and Nahiri during the war: *autistically screaming at each other*

[@IcemanRai]

How is Sorin so underpowered in WAR, he is one of the few pre-mending planeswalkers. Somehow the each of the magic origins seems to be stronger than him

[@SirMcAwesome]

@@IcemanRai Is he under-powered? How does the story portray him? Buy you're right, he's meant to be one of the most ancient and powerful motherfuckers around.

[@stratavosstuff7575]

@@SirMcAwesome he actually isn't underpowered, he's just more... "basic" like, he only takes a little bit and the reviving skill is actually really damn amazing.

[@Pokepowergaming]

@@IcemanRai Nahiri is also a premending Walker tbf

[@maanthony1052]

@@SirMcAwesome Sorin had far far less moments than Davriel, that's how mad I am to the book!

[@jeeps95]

This format with Ryan’s off-camera jokes and self-deprecating humor make it really entertaining. The wink and nod towards the viewer during some of the more goofy story points doesn’t seem forced, but are perfectly timed with just the right amount of winking and nodding. I was really curious about how this story was going to payoff and from The Professor’s damning review of the book and the illogical jumps in the plot, I can say that giant corporations like Hasbro and Disney that could have easily fixed this if they *only* brought in a few fans to proof and edit their stories, then we wouldn’t end with the semi-disappointing stories we get. Oh well. Great job. I love this channel. Keep up the great work!

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Thank you for watching and I'm glad people appreciate my sense of humor. That's the best compliment I can get!

[@deathblow9565]

Karn made a pact with the Gatewatch to clean up Phyrexia when and if they lived through this Bolas battle. Maybe a return to New Phyrexia?

[@mikebulmer9823]

I think we are going to go back to Shandalar very soon. Liliana may be free of her contract, but she still has to get rid of the chain veil and get answers, and we don't know who the Raven Man is yet. Though if they do make him Lim-dul it would make sense. I think we may finally see a Shandalar set!

[@straycatz3530]

Lemme tell you. When magic is confused on who can be the most OP planeswalker that can stand the same ground as JTMS, who stepped up with an army of zombies and became, literally, a black white indestructible creature on your turn? Liliana.

[@CrusaderofLight1]

This is a Great channel. Have to say that i'm sad to see Domri die as he has always been my favorite plainswalker, i love the Gruul clan too.

[@josephg3462]

For Dack, they had the PERFECT opportunity to give his character the best death, all they had to do was use the trailer (again 11 Million views), and just build on it. Dack arrives and tried to convince Liliana that she should stop this. He's heard from Jace that she isn't a terrible person and this drives her more and more to the edge. They're so caught up in their argument that Dack doesn't see the Eternal that kills him until it's too late. His last word being 'Please...' as he is killed. For a moment, as he's being drained, Liliana would almost see an outline of her brother over the dying body of Dack. This would be the final straw as she's spurned into action. There, Dack get's a better end, and it would give Liliana's decision more weight.

[@cyruskamhea1860]

Dude that would be much more sad to read, so amazing for the theme of the book, instead of his death of daydreaming of telling his no-longer-to-be grandkids the war. I wish that was how it was

[@Nick-um1pi]

The Lazav twist was the biggest twist since Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

[@PhyxiusGaming]

In the end (sorry for the little pun here), they didn´t get rid of jace. But at least He-Man died and my Lili is alive. I´m partialy happy. Great video as always. Thx Ryan and the team!

[@keila-joybethancourt1023]

I love the way you tell the stories. It's so easy to follow. And showing the cards on screen is a huge plus! I'm always putting new cards on my wishlist thanks to you :)

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Just going to show this comment to my boss real quick :-)

[@aaronhooker7588]

1) Heliod bless those natural 20 rolls. 2) Promise (the Pegasus) never should have said he was retiring next week and living on his boat named "Forever".

[@xaer0knight]

thanks for the history! When you said Bolas Scheme in place... i was expecting a tangent about archenemy ;)

[@BearsawPrime]

Domri wasn't going to fight nicol when he gets harvested. He was going to join nicol at the time. Also the early start talks about vraskas betrayal and niv dieing.

[@eusouzoom]

Is It a chapter or is It in the site?

[@brianbuasuwan9768]

@@eusouzoom its on the card soul diviner

[@eusouzoom]

@@brianbuasuwan9768 i meant the other sentence... Niv's death and stuff

[@dominiciancabatit6012]

Wow. Thanks so much for telling the whole story of War of the Spark. Before this video, I've only known bits and pieces of what exactly is happening through the cards and the artworks and flavor text. To me, the whole story reminds me SO MUCH of Marvel's Endgame. I would LOVE to see a movie of this epic story line.

[@phothar93]

This video has better storytelling than the official book by a celebrated author smh

[@ragnaroksaura8739]

Just wanna say out of all the mtg channels this guy knows how to cover a story so well!! Great content

[@yandrak4621]

HA! I knew Ral was gonna double cross Bolas. Let's say something about Ral, if he looks like he is fighting for one side, he is actually fighting for the other one. Great video btw

[@theturtwig50]

I'm quite glad they made him a good guy, he adores Ravnica too much. Still, I really want to understand why he turned on Bolas, besides the book's reasoning on "he just didn't want to anymore."

[@yandrak4621]

@@theturtwig50 according to what I've read he was actually on Niv's side all along, never actually with Bolas but playing as a double agent.

[@Narakiomal]

Holy shit! half an hour of Arcanum? FUCK YEAH!

[@qianbang_]

You won't hear anything about Fblthp as he got lost.. during everything.

[@BishopVlogs]

"Nissa fudging the leylines" is the best joke on this channel. Thanks for that

[@deleteman900]

"Dovin getting SHROOKENED to the face"

[@user-fh3qp6ul5k]

(26:13) just the thought of gideon going "its time to du-du-du..." made me fall of my chair. that was actually hilarious

[@robertraffensberger9051]

Niv-Mizzet died in the expansion/explosion card

[@reniquint6647]

Its really beautiful and interesting to have some like Liliana defy her destiny by choosing to give up her life for others Its like the war of spark is happening in her heart

[@screechingtoad2683]

I think Garruk is going to reenter the story sense lilianna is being hunted. Maybe Kaya and Garuk will team up?

[@Tzzrt_Unbrkn]

I believe Garruk will kill Kaya while Lili is facing certain death, and in turn; Lili will lift the curse, making him GW or GR walker

[@screechingtoad2683]

@@Tzzrt_Unbrkn Considering what he's been through, i'd say G/R at first

[@Tzzrt_Unbrkn]

Screeching Toad Domri did just die, and Samut is kinda shitty

[@pakmanx8409]

Lazav and his antics makes me want to go play control surveil / drege ..... this story is so damn awesome

[@FalkNightbringer]

What if Lili travels to Theros, trying to bring Gideon back?

[@GigaLordShinyMudkip1]

FalkNightbringer Gideon deserves some rest. Unless Lilianna revives zombie gideon and their combined sparks create a new planeswalker that’s half Gideon half Lilliana.

[@FalkNightbringer]

@@GigaLordShinyMudkip1 The first one is true and the last one is an awesome idea xD

[@adym15]

Let Gideon rest; bring back Elspeth instead!

[@Tzzrt_Unbrkn]

@@adym15 the next theros set will likely be the battle and death of the gods there (except maybe Kruphix, as she knows of the multiverse and is likely to join the gatewatch indirectly). When going for Erebos, Gideon and Elspeth would get reintroduced, maybe even make their escape from the underworld.

[@ikrena4701]

@@Tzzrt_Unbrkn well, keep in mind that Gideon can't become a returned. He died without regret, which is a prerequisite for coming back to life on Theros

[@DigitalinDaniel]

I kinda imagined Tezz's tummy like a theater-projector that casts a gate at a distance rather than zombies crawling out of him xD

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) Yeah I'm sure that's it. It's just housed within his body, but you don't have to walk through his guts to use the portal lol

[@Zspear234]

I'm hoping for either new villains (because two of the big three have been dealt with already), or some new stuff with New Phyrexia.

[@rjoukecu]

I would love that as well, but there is too much infighting because mana has colors.... duh.

[@JM64]

I know I'm 2 years late... but I'm not as familiar with magics story as I'd like to be. Who are the big three? Bolas is one obviously... are we just talking about planeswalkers or extra-planar threats in general like the Eldrazi?

[@Zspear234]

@@JM64 The extra-planar threats. Bolas, the Eldrazi, and Phyrexia.

[@humanname1458]

Nordrhein-Westfalen a plane filled with snow and ice full of new things and a surprisingly vikingly vibe

[@tcgplayercom]

(Ryan) I think we're due for something like that, yes.

[@NinesEpsilon]

Uh hello you missed the best part. Jace and Vraska smooch

[@Niterayde]

Oh shit , liliana gonna be pissed her sugar daddy is locking lips with someone else o:

22:10 honestly love that card that flavor text cracks me up XD